A Piece From Home

By Kasey

If my role as the Collections Assistant has taught me anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. That might sound dramatic, but it’s true – in a store, you just never know what you’re going to find.



My search for Heritage Eastbourne objects continues.

 

You may remember that a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon an infantry drummer’s leopard skin and it shocked the bobble hat right off me. One good thing about the leopard skin, however, was that it had a label. With three collections housed in our store, labels are crucial for keeping track of the objects, and in a store as old as ours, they are not to be taken for granted. Despite efforts to keep our documentation up to date, we still have a few mystery objects.  We don’t know where they have come from or in which collection they belong – if in any. Sometimes we don’t even know what they are. 

And what might this be? A mystery box? How exciting!

One of these mystery objects features on our blog this week because although it might seem insignificant, for the Redoubt’s resident Canadian, it was a most welcomed surprise.

Bestill my heart! Is that a maple leaf?

What we have here is a Canadian centenary pin from 1967. Designed by Stewart Ash, the stylized maple leaf (comprised of 11 equilateral triangles representing the 10 provinces and the Canadian North) became an emblem of 100 years of unity, marking the centennial anniversary of Confederation. Celebrations were held all throughout the year and finished officially on Dominion Day, July 1, 1967 – which we Canadians now call Canada Day!


A Canadian Centenary Pin!

 

The story of how this tiny pin came to reside in a tin box at the back of an Eastbourne store will always be a mystery to us. It has no provenience whatsoever. For this reason, it is unlikely to be joining our collection, but nevertheless I was really happy to find it – a little piece of Canadian history so far from home.

Happy to be reunited with a piece of my country's history.